Background: Even though the government’s priorities in preventing cervical cancer are implemented in urban areas, the screening rate remains unsatisfactory at 6%, compared to 70% recommended by the world health organization. The ongoing public health education has not resulted in sufficient screening rates. The study aims to assess peer-led navigation (PLNav) in promoting cervical cancer screening knowledge, intention, and practices among urban women in Tanzania. Since PLNav is the form of task shifting, it involves delegating cervical-cancer-related tasks from healthcare professionals to community health workers (CHWs). Methods: It is a community-based randomized controlled trial conducted in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania March-Sept 2020. The PLNav involved the CHWs delivering health education, counselling and navigation assistance to community women (COMW). The CHWs help women who have never undergone cervical cancer screening (CCS) and those who have undergone CCS but with a precancerous cervical lesion to overcome screening barriers. The data related to PLNav were analyzed by descriptive statistics, an independent-samples t-test, repeated measures ANOVA and linear regression. Results: The repeated measures ANOVA across time showed that PLNav intervention on mean knowledge score changes was statistically significant in the intervention group compared with the control group’s usual care, [F (1, 43) = 56.9, P < .001]. At the six-month follow-up, 32 (72.7%) out of 44 participants from the intervention group had screened for cervical cancer, and only one participant (2.3%) from the control group screened. The PLNav intervention on CCS uptake changes was statistically significant in the intervention group compared with usual care in the control group [F (1, 43) = 100.4, P < .001]. The effect of time on CCS uptake in the intervention and control groups was statistically significant [F (1.64, 70.62) = 73.4, P < .001]. Conclusion: Peer-led navigation (PLNav) was effective in promoting cervical cancer screening knowledge, intention, and uptake.

Background: Cervical cancer screening remains unsatisfactory in some regions due to hindrances. This study aims to explore fundamental elements in training patient navigators and their involvement in promoting screening knowledge and practices. Methods: This systematic review study included only English published articles between 2014 and 2019 from PubMed/Medline, EBSCO, Science Direct, and Wiley online library. Results: Healthcare professionals trained patient navigators in 3 days regarding screening basics, along with group discussions and role-plays. They delivered effective health education and navigation assistance. Conclusion: The group education session facilitated by patient navigators, coupled with navigation care, resulted in a high screening rate.

Background: Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is a global concern as it is associated with infant protection against gastrointestinal infections, reduces newborn mortality and prevents a child from becoming overweight or obese. Even though some studies have reported high EBF practices among housewives compared to employed mothers, the influences of practices among the two groups are little documented. Objectives: The study aimed at comparing the EBF among employed mothers and housewives in Tanzania. Methodology: The study was a facility-based comparative cross-sectional study, with a sample size of 246 mothers of children less than 6 months. Convenience sampling was used to select participants. Data were collected by using a validated questionnaire and analyzed by Statistical Package for Social Science, version 23, through descriptive statistics (frequency, proportion and mean) and inferential statistics (Chi-square test (χ²) and binary logistic regression). Results: The findings show that 106 (80.9%) of housewives had good EBF compared to 78 (67.8%) employed mothers, which was a significant difference (χ² = 5.57; P = 0.019). One hundred and seven (81.7%) housewives had adequate knowledge of EBF compared to 84 (73%) employed mothers, but the knowledge between them was not significantly different (χ² = 2.63; P = 0.071). For employed mothers, only age was significantly associated with EBF (χ² = 39.49; P = 0.006), while for housewives, none of the sociodemographic characteristics was significantly associated with EBF. Conclusion: EBF practice was higher among housewives as compared to employed mothers. Age was significantly associated with good practice of EBF among employed mothers. The effort should be strengthened to help employed mothers aged below 28 years to practice EBF. Different programs and approaches that are developed and implemented should target this age group to increase the rate of EBF.

Background: Health-seeking behavior (HSB) is an important aspect of population health and is closely linked to a nation’s economic development. Its importance is reflected in the Sustainable Development Goal 3. Although previous studies in Tanzania have examined health-seeking behavior, the majority of them have focused on the behavior of seeking medical attention after becoming sick. The present study assessed healthcare facility factors associated with health-seeking behavior among secondary school students in the Dodoma region.Methodology: This was a cross-sectional analytical study that included 311 adolescent secondary school students. The data were collected through a validated questionnaire and were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-squared test values (χ²).Results: Among the 311 study respondents, 62 (19.9%) were found to exhibit health-seeking behavior. Healthcare facility factors associated with adolescents’ health-seeking behavior included healthcare service costs (χ² = 12.415, p = 0.015) and long queues (χ² = 10.077, p = 0.039).Conclusion: The health-seeking behavior among adolescents was not satisfactory and is influenced by factors such as service costs, long queues, and their socio-demographic characteristics (age, sex, and education). Improving adolescents’ health-seeking behavior requires reducing hospital waiting times and queues. To address cost barriers to health-seeking behavior, initiatives should be implemented to ensure that each secondary school student has health insurance. Interventions need to consider adolescents’ age, sex, and education to improve their health-seeking behavior. For instance, priorities should be directed toward very young adolescents and those with lower levels of education.